Infection of the Heart
by kou-tora
Summary: Leon falls victim to Darkness, and the only one who may be able to save him in conflicted by Darkness of his own. CLC


**Title: **Infection of the Heart

**Rating**: PG-13 for swearing and blood

**Pairing**: CloudxLeon

**Warnings**: Swearing, violence, blood, and probably Yaoi :3

**Summary**: Leon falls victim to Darkness, and the only one who may be able to save him in conflicted by Darkness of his own.

**Author Note**: If you don't like BL or just this pairing, then don't read it. Any flames or immature negative remarks will be ignored. I'm very good at ignoring :3

* * *

"Leon wait! Come back!" Aerith called desperately to the retreating form of Leon as he stormed out of Merlin's house.

But Leon didn't want to go back. He didn't want to listen to lectures and bullshit, and he certainly didn't want to deal with one stupid idiotic blonde by the name of Cloud Strife.

This certainly wasn't their first argument, and it certainly wouldn't be their last, but this one…definitely hurt more then the others. The words had stung more, and the memories that came with them were just as painful. And Leon blamed it all on a certain blonde and his inability to leave the past in the past, especially other peoples.

He angrily kicked at a rock that just so happened to be within reach of his boot, sending it skidding across the dusty ground. He then found a second rock and quickly sent it flying too. Taking one last glance back at the town below, Leon climbed his way towards the edge of town, along the cliff sides.

Cursing the entire way, Leon unhooked his gunblade from his belt and swung it in the air a few times, feeling the familiar weight. His argument with Cloud left him irritable and itching to kill something. Lucky for him, something to kill wasn't hard to find.

The familiar silent whoosh of darkness was the only warning before several Heartless appeared before Leon. Smirking, Leon felt the rush of adrenaline fuel his blood as he charged at the dark mindless creatures.

They weren't much of a challenge. A few slashes of his gunblade and they quickly vanished as fast as they had appeared. They were more of a nuisance now a days rather then a threat. The security system that he and Cid had installed kept most of Heartless out of the city center, and forced them back to the edges of town. With Malifiecent seemingly gone, and Sora working hard as ever saving other worlds from the clutches of Darkness, the Heartless at Radiant Garden had dwindled. Only small drones appeared, with some of the larger ones every once in a while, and boss-class Heartless were now non-existent.

Irritated by the lack of challenge, Leon wandered amongst the cliff paths, not particularly thinking of where he was going. He eventually came to a cliff edge, forcing himself to stop and examine his surroundings. He had apparently wandered into one of the untouched areas of Radiant Garden, as the entire area was nothing but razor sharp cliff edges and drops. To either side of him were towering rock walls, and in front was a large pit that dropped down into darkness.

Walking to the edge, Leon peered over it, attempting to see the bottom. He kicked another rock, sending it plummeting down into the pit. After a moment, the echo of it hitting the bottom floated up from the misty darkness.

Already bored, Leon turned to leave. Looking at the sky, he was surprised to see how long he had been away. It was close to nightfall, maybe another hour or two of daylight left. He figured he had sulked enough. It was time to go home.

A movement suddenly caught Leon's attention to his side, and purely through reflexes did he manage to raise his gunblade in time. The sound similar to that of metal on metal screeched in Leon's ear, as he gripped his Gunblade dangerously close to the side of his face, blocking the incoming attack.

And just as quickly as the attack came, it was gone.

Leon whirled around, searching for his attacker, but he saw nothing. The dust whirled in the air slightly, signaling that _something_ had definitely been there just moments ago, but had now vanished.

Or so Leon thought.

"_A little Heart has come to ME" _A whispered voice, low in Leon's ear, seemed to fill the area, bouncing off the cliff sides and sent chills down his spine.

"_Oh how long I've slept, and now I'm HUNGRY" _The voice hissed again, low and singsong.

"Who are you!? Show yourself!" Leon angrily shouted, annoyed by the hide-and-seek game. He couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It felt like it was just behind him, but no matter where he looked, nothing was around. It irritated him to no end.

"_The Heart has Darkness. Oh such lovely Darkness. Nice and BLACK" _The voice purred the last word, this time lashing out.

Leon was just barely able to dodge the blow, as it came low and fast. He swung his Gunblade out at the attacker, which back flipped away from Leon, and scurried up the side of a cliff wall. Now Leon was able to get a good look at his foe.

It was a Heartless, that much Leon could tell. But it was vastly different from all the others he had dealt with before. It wasn't overly large, maybe the size of a large feline, like a tiger or lion at most. It crawled on all fours like a lizard, with its long legs clinging to the rock side. On one front foot though, four dagger-like claws, each easily 3 feet in length, scrapped against the rock. It's eyes, huge and wide on its round and almost feline like face, focused entirely on Leon. Its mouth was wide and curled into a cruel smile, with its sharp teeth glittering dangerously. Horns and spikes decorated its entire body, each curved and twisted.

Leon took immediate notice of the Heartless symbol, which was stretched across the creature's backside. He looked at it with an odd fascination, because, unlike all the other countless Heartless he had seen, this one's was different. The bottom of the heart symbol stretched downwards more, and formed the shape of what Leon could only describe as a trident, with 3 sharp arrows pointing downwards. In interior of the heart was not the typical vine with thorns marking either. Instead, it appeared to be a star-burst, or some hideous version of one.

But the thing that made chills of dread run down Leon's spine, was the fact that this Heartless was _talking_ to him. Taunting him, no less.

"_This Heart will be wonderful, oh so wonderful. Must have it, must eat IT" _The Heartless hissed out in pleasure, a long forked tongue sliding out of the Cheshire-cat smile each time it spoke.

"What the hell is this thing…." Leon whispered to himself and took a hesitant step back, Gunblade raised and ready.

But not ready enough.

The Heartless all but _vanished_, it moved so quickly. Leon didn't even have time to react, before he felt the strike. A long bloody gash appeared on his left thigh, and he grunted in surprise and pain.

Turning on his heel, he just barely blocked an incoming strike to his back. But the Heartless was too fast. It circled around for another strike, this time on his shoulder. Leon let out low strangled cry of pain as blood soaked into the fabric of his jacket. The wound throbbed and burned like crazy.

The Heartless continued this routine, circling and striking, far too fast and too nimble for Leon to keep up.

'Fast! I've never seen anything like it!' Leon thought in despair. He was getting tired and his vision was blurring from blood-loss. But he couldn't use any potions or magic. He just didn't have _time_. The Heartless's attacks were becoming quicker and more constant, slicing and stabbing whenever it circled around.

'But never anything fatal.' Leon suddenly thought, confused. 'It just aims for the non-vital areas…'

Blocking another blow, Leon then suddenly realized something else. The Heartless, this entire time, has yet to attack Leon with the four dagger-like claws on it's left front foot. It has only been using it's smaller claws and spikes to strike at Leon.

Taking a step back, the heel of Leon's boot met empty air. Looking over his shoulder, Leon looked down in surprise and sudden fear. He now stood at the very edge of the cliff, which led down into the dark pit. Suddenly, something clicked.

'This bastard's been toying with me! Its just been driving me back.' Leon growled in frustration.

"_This Heart is strong, yes it is. Take some time, it will, to turn this Heart into dark. But savor it I WILL" _The Heartless sung out again.

"Shut up you bastard!" Leon snapped at it, acting like a wild lion backed into a corner.

"_The Darkness calls to you, I see. Darkness, Darkness, you and ME" _The Heartless's smile only seemed to grow in more delight, as it prowled in front of Leon like a predator taunting it's prey.

"I SAID. SHUT. UP!" Leon yelled in fury, raising his Gunblade and moved to charge the Heartless.

But he never made a single step.

His Gunblade clattered to the dusty ground by his feet, slipping from his fingers. A painful cough escaped his lips, blood spilling out of the corner of his mouth. Shaking, Leon stared face-to-face with the grinning Heartless, which but a few inches from his. Their eyes locked, storm-grey with wild neon-red. Tearing his gaze away, he eyes briefly traveled downward, his eyelids drooping with every weak blink.

Four claws of the Heartless's left hand were imbedded deeply in Leon's abdomen.

The Heartless purred deeply, before retracting the claws, blood dripping from each razor sharp tip.

"_Call to Darkness, Cling to Darkness. It is the only way to end the PAIN" The Heartless whispered to Leon, before vanishing in a cloud of black smoke. _

_Leon swayed for a moment, the shock of what just happened making him shake. His vision was already blurring, and all the warmth had left his fingers. He felt no pain though. Just a bone-chilling numbness. _

_Letting out a gurgled cough, he attempted to stand straight to start walking. All the strength just suddenly left him though, and his legs gave out. His body swayed dangerously, and he lost his footing. Letting out one more strangled cry, Leon tumbled over the cliff, down into the darkness below. _

* * *

_I need SLEEP. But this bloody story would not leave me alone until I wrote it! D8_

_There! Chapter 1 done! I'll write more when it's NOT 4am (goes to sleep)._

_(and yes, I am insanely evil for leaving it off where it is. I'm sorry)_

_-REVIEW IS FUEL FOR WRITING! WANT MORE CHAPTERS? REVIEW!!_


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